Lukhang Temple

– The Naga Chaple

History Of Lukhang Temple

The construction of the Potala Palace was finally completed at the end of the seventeenth century. The earth to build the palace were dug from the open area just behind. Therefore, the left vast hole was filled with water and named the ‘Lake of the Naga King’.

Shortly after, the sixth Dalai Lama built a small chapel on an artificial mound created in the middle of the lake, both as a shrine to the Naga King and a personal retreat. This ‘Naga Chaple’ is a square, ‘mandalic’ building with three floors.

The Lukhang temple was built in a three-dimensional shape of a mandala. This kind of construction represents the Universe like the Samye monastery. The Lukhang temple has three floors representing the three dimensions of enlightenment – outer reality, inner experience and a transcendent dimension beyond time and space. 

Highlights Of Lukhang Temple

The main highlights of the Lukhang Temple are the murals on the third floor. They are the details of the yogis in 23 yoga positions, titled “The Sacred Keys Of The Channels and Winds.” 

For hundreds of years, this temple was closed to anyone but the Dalai Lama himself. Instead, vibrant murals covered its walls, depicting yogis in impossible-looking poses, gurus and kings, crystals surrounded by rainbows and vagina that gave birth to the world. 

This sacred Lukhang temple was the place where initiates Dalai Lamas into yogic and tantric practices in the Dzogchen school of Tibetan Buddhism. Unfortunately, very few people got to see these murals while touring in Tibet. Here are some pictures of the Lukhang temple.